Milton Keynes joins the Rugby League map

Milton Keynes can now boast its very own Rugby League team with the formation of the MK Wolves Rugby League club.

Milton Keynes joins the Rugby League map
Milton Keynes can now boast its very own Rugby League team with the formation of the MK Wolves Rugby League club.
The new grassroots club will join the Eastern League in the 4th tier of the English Rugby League pyramid for the 2012 season, competing against teams such as Bedford Tigers, St. Ives Roosters and Bury Titans.
MK Wolves’ Chairman, Andrew Quirke, said: “Rugby League is a rapidly growing sport in this region, with Northampton and Hemel Hempstead recently being admitted to the semi-professional Championship One League. And it’s only right that one of the fastest-growing sports in the country is played in one of its fastest-growing towns”.
MK Wolves will be based at the brand new £2M state-of-the-art Emerson Valley Sports Pavillion, sharing facilities with Milton Keynes Rugby Union club. And it was demand from those Rugby Union players that led to the formation of the Rugby League side.
“We had many existing MK Rugby Union players eager to play Rugby League during the summer months, and had no formal way of doing so in Milton Keynes”, said Quirke. “Forming the club was the right thing to do. Already we’ve got more than 30 players who have declared an interest, but we’d always welcome more.
“Rugby League is fast, exciting and relatively straight-forward to pick up. We’d encourage any existing local amateur rugby players, or anyone who feels they could be successful at the sport, to come to our open evening on Wednesday 7th March, at Emerson Valley Sports Pavillion”.
Quirke forecasts a rapid growth for the fledgling club: “Our first season starts in April and at present, we’re simply looking to establish a senior team to compete in the East League. Hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to enter a second team for the Merit League and once the senior side is established, we'd like to look at youth and junior set-ups as well”.
Milton Keynes has already produced one major Rugby League Star, with Wigan and England fullback Sam Tomkins – one of the biggest names in the game – being born in the town, and Quirke expects that the sport’s continued expansion will help to unearth even more stars as more people enjoy the game.
“2013 will see the Rugby League World Cup held in this country, and that will no doubt see a huge surge in interest in the sport. And maybe one day, we’ll get to see an MK Wolves player representing England at Rugby League. That would be a dream come true!”
The club is holding a player registration evening at 7pm on Wednesday 7th March at the Emerson Valley Sports Pavillion, Bowland Drive, Emerson Valley, MK4 2DN. All interested players aged 16+ are welcome to attend.
For more information, follow MK Wolves on
Twitter: @MKWolvesRL
email andrew.miltonkeynesrl@gmail.com
web http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/miltonkeynesrugbyleague/